The referenced applications Ser. No. 06/010,620, GAUSE, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,700, and Ser. No. 06/010,816, WOLF et al, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,922, describe tape recording apparatus particularly suitable for professional video tape transducing apparatus in which tape reels are held in a cassette housing on a longitudinally slidable separating wall. A loop of tape can be removed from the reel automatically and placed in a suitable tape transducing apparatus by engaging the tape with tape guide elements as explained in the aforementioned patents. In order to place the tape in the cassette in threading position, it was necessary to move the tape out of the cassette structure itself into a position where it can be engaged by the tape guide elements of the threading apparatus explained in the aforementioned application. This manual handling of the tapes in the cassettes required care and skill on part of the operator so that the tape is properly removed from the cassettes for subsequent handling by the tape guide apparatus, and proper threading thereby. The tape reels are normally stored in the cassettes; video tape, which is much wider than audio recording tape, can be stored in two superposed reels on the common support wall--as explained in the referenced applications; after removal, the tape reels are lowered into an operating position. It is also possible to push the tape reels manually out of the cassette, leaving the separating wall therein. In any event, and regardless of the specific construction, care and skill on part of the operator are required.